The Irregular at Magic High School Season 3 anime TV series is confirmed to be in production.
The third season will be diving down into the popular light novel series’ Double Seven story arc. But when will Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei Season 3 come out?
“We have decided to produce a sequel to the anime The Irregular at Magic High School,” stated the official website on January 1, 2022. “Details will be announced on the official website, official Twitter, etc., so please wait for the follow-up report!”
Unfortunately, there has been silence from official sources other than announcing the Blu-Ray details for previous anime adaptations.
Anime Geek is predicting that The Irregular at Magic High School Season 3 release date could be in the 2nd half of 2023 at the earliest. (Please see the release date predictions section below for more details.)
The announcement also included a brief Mahouka Season 3 trailer.
The announcement did not announce the Mahouka sequel’s format, which means it could be a second movie or a TV series. However, it’s most likely the third season based on the timeline of the light novel series.
The announcement of the third season was made on December 31, 2021, shortly after The Irregular at Magic High School: Reminiscence Arc aired on TV in Japan as a New Year’s Eve special (it also released on Crunchyroll that day). The Reminiscence Arc TV special was actually a flashback that’s based on novel Volume 8.
The Irregular at Magic High School: Reminiscence Arc anime was announced with a new trailer on February 28, 2021. The format of the new project was not initially specified. While it seemed like it would be a new Mahouka movie it turned out to be a TV special.
In fact, the Reminiscence Arc was more like an extended OVA since the TV anime special had a total runtime of 1 hour and 3 minutes. Shorter than a movie, that’s roughly the equivalent of three episodes.
But that’s not too surprising since most light novels are adapted by 3 to 5 episodes, although there are notable exceptions like the 86 anime and The World’s Finest Assassin anime.
The number of episodes for the Mahouka Season 3 anime has not yet been announced. However, based on the light novel series (see the anime/book comparison section below for more details), it’s likely that the third season will be 24 episodes composed of two cours.
A “cour” is a three-month TV broadcasting block based on the physical seasons, usually composed of 10 to 13 episodes.
The first season came out in April 2014, while the movie The Irregular at Magic High School The Movie: The Girl Who Calls the Stars released in 2017. The 26-episode first season was produced by animation studio Madhouse and directed by Manabu Ono.
For those who may have missed it, a new Mahouka 2021 TV anime was already released. But it wasn’t Mahouka Season 3. Instead, the most recent anime season adapted a manga spin-off called The Honor Student at Magic High School, which is essentially a retelling of the main anime’s story from a different perspective (see the details below).
The main staff and studio making The Irregular at Magic High School Season 3 hasn’t been announced yet. However, it’ll likely be Studio 8bit since they produced the first Mahouka movie, the 2020 second season, and the 2021 Reminiscence Arc TV special.
Studio 8bit is best known for making the That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime anime series along with its spin-off the Slime Diaries anime and the That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime movie . In recent years, Studio 8bit is also best known for producing the Blue Lock anime. In the past, they’ve also created notables such as Comet Lucifer, Knight’s & Magic, Encouragement of Climb, and Infinite Stratos.
In the future, it’s already been confirmed that they’ll produce That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime Season 3.
The Mahouka Season 3 staff has not been confirmed. For the Reminiscence Arc, movie director Risako Yoshida returned to helm the project alongside assistant director Jimmy Stone. Writer Munemasa Nakamoto also returned for writing the scripts.
Returning character designer Kana Ishida was also the chief animation director. Music composer Taku Iwasaki also returned.
The Japanese Mahouka cast included returning voice actors and actresses from the first season. Yuichi Nakamura will voice Tatsuya Shiba, Saori Hayami voices Miyuki Shiba, and Yoko Hikasa voices Angelina Kudo Shields.
The Irregular at Magic High School Season 3 opening (OP) and ending (ED) theme song music have yet been announced.
The Irregular at Magic High School: Reminiscence Arc OP (opening) theme song music “Ripe Aster” was performed by Kairi Yagi.
FUNimation was exclusively streaming the single-cour second season during the fall 2020 anime season (it was originally scheduled for summer 2020 but was delayed by the SARS-COV-2 coronavirus pandemic).
The finale, Mahouka Season 2 Episode 13, was streaming on December 26, 2020.
- Updated January 6, 2023: Prologue of Disturbance Arc and Escape Arc manga begins in 2023.
- Updated February 3, 2022: Mahouka Ancient City Insurrection Arc manga ends.
Updated December 31, 2021: Mahouka Season 3 confirmed to be in production!
- Updated March 28, 2021: The Honor Student at Magic High School release date in July 2021. Added trailer.
- Updated February 28, 2021: The Irregular at Magic High School: Reminiscence Arc anime announced!
Updated December 27, 2020: The Honor Student at Magic High School anime announced! Mahouka Koukou no Yuutousei “Season 2” confirmed! Southern Sea Riot Arc manga release date confirmed!
Updated November 17, 2020: Added Mahouka English dub info.
- Updated November 9, 2020: Added The Irregular at Magic High School: Maidens of Cygnus release date.
This article provides everything that is known about The Irregular At Magic High School Season 3 (Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei Season 3) and all related news. As such, this article will be updated over time with news, rumors, and analysis. Meanwhile, let’s delve down into what is known for certain.
Mahouka Season 3 release date predictions: Is late 2023 possible?
As of the last update, Studio 8bit, FUNimation, or any company related to the anime production has not officially confirmed the Mahouka Season 3 release date. Nor has the production of a Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei Season 3 been officially announced. However, a Mahouka anime sequel was confirmed to be in production on January 1, 2022.
Once the news is officially confirmed, this article will be updated with the relevant information.
In the meantime, it’s possible to speculate about when, or if, The Irregular at Magic High School Season 3 premiere date will occur in the future.
Anime projects are scheduled years in advance. Now that the light novel series is finished (see below for more details), the anime production committee can plan out the anime series’ production schedule over the long term.
Assuming that a studio change doesn’t happen, Studio 8bit typically only releases two to three anime per year. 8bit’s schedule for 2022 included Encouragement of Climb: Next Summit, the Slime movie, and the Blue Lock anime adaptation. That’s why a Mahouka Season 3 premiere in 2022 seemed unlikely when the project was first announced.
As for 2023, Studio 8bit first finished the 2nd cour of Blue Lock Season 1 in March 2023. It’s already known that Slime Season 3 is in production, but the remainder of 2023 is a blank slate as of January 2023.
Therefore, it’s possible that The Irregular at Magic High School Season 3 release date will be in the 2nd half of 2023.
FUNimation Mahouka English dub announced
Despite being a FUNimation exclusive, a Mahouka Season 2 English dub was not initially released as a SimulDub. The first season was never English dubbed.
In mid-November 2020, FUNimation announced their plans for a Mahouka Season 2 English dub. The second season will be dubbed by Aniplex of America and Bang Zoom! Entertainment.
- Alejandro Saab as Tatsuya Shiba
- Anairis Quinones as Miyuki Shiba
- Suzie Yeung as Angelina Kudou Shields
- Erica Mendez as Erika Chiba
- Mick Lauer as Leonhard Saijo
- Xanthe Huynh as Mizuki Shibata
- Landon McDonald as Mikihiko Yoshida
- Kimberly Woods as Honoka Mitsui
- Ryan Bartley as Shizuku Kitayama
- Maureen Price as Mayumi Saegusa
- Amber Lee Connors as Mari Watanabe
- Kaiji Tang as Katsuto Jumonji
FUNimation Now will release The Irregular at Magic High School Season 2 English dub on their streaming platform.
Therefore, The Irregular at Magic High School Season 3 English dub seems possible. Hopefully, the success of the anime series will cause FUNimation to provide dubs in the future for both the first and third seasons.
The Honor Student at Magic High School “Season 2” manga and Mahouka 2021 anime announced
On December 26, 2020, The Honor Student at Magic High School (Mahouka Koukou no Yuutousei) anime TV series was announced with a brief trailer. It was based on the spin-off manga series by artist Mori Yuu.
The story starts from the beginning, but this time the events are seen through the eyes of Shiba Miyuki, Tatsuya’s sister. The anime focused on her life as an honor student and dive down into how she started to develop… certain unexpected feelings.
What’s more, monthly manga magazine Dengeki Daioh will start The Honor Student at Magic High School “Season 2” by manga artist Masaru Oda, which is essentially a retelling of the Visitor Arc from a different perspective. The manga sequel began serializing on February 26, 2021 (the April 2021 issue).
The Honor Student at Magic High School anime release date was in July 2021. The finale released on September 25, 2021. See our The Honor Student at Magic High School Season 2 article for more details.
Sequel – The Irregular At Magic High School Magian Company continues the light novel series
The anime series’s story is based on the Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei light novel series by author Tsutomu Sato and illustrator Kana Ishida. But the story actually began as a free web novel that was self-published from 2008 through 2011.
First published as a light novel in 2011, the first book series ended with Volume 32: Sacrifice/Graduation Arc on September 10, 2020.
The direct Mahouka sequel began releasing on October 10, 2020. Called Sequel – The Irregular at Magic High School Magian Company (Zoku Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei Magian Company) focuses on the protagonist Tatsuya Shiba and the others after they graduate from First High magic high school.
Additionally, a Mahouka spinoff series was announced called New – The Irregular at Magic High School Maidens of Cygnus (Shin – Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei Cygnus no Otome-tachi).
Releasing on January 10, 2021 (there is also a free prequel online), the Maidens of Cygnus relates the adventures of a new class and focuses on two girls named Arisa and Matsurika and their connection to the Jumonji family.
North American Publisher Yen Press is handling the official English translation for the original Mahouka light novel series, which will be up to Volume 19 as of May 17, 2022.
The Mahouka manga adaptation is unique in that a different manga artist adapts each story arc and is released separately. Oftentimes, manga story arcs are being released at the same time frames.
Worse, the story arcs being adapted are completely out of order compared to the main timeline, which is a bit confusing since you can’t read them in consecutive order based on the publishing date.
Concerning the Mahouka Season 3 anime, the Double Seven Arc by illustrator Tsuna Kiaumi was released in three volumes from 2017 through 2019.
A manga adaptation of the Steeplechase Arc by Aonagi Nobu began in March 2019 and finished on November 27, 2020. Similarly, the Ancient City Insurrection Arc manga by Yuzuki N began in March 2019 and finished on January 27, 2022.
The Yotsuba Succession Arc manga by Kitaumi Tsuna began in December 2019 and ended on March 18, 2022. The Master Clan Conference Arc manga by Hazumi Takeda began in March 2020. Nobu Aonagi began releasing the Southern Sea Riot Arc (Nankai Soujou-hen) manga arc on February 26, 2021.
Higuchi Mei began releasing the Prologue of Disturbance Arc in Dengeki Daioh magazine on January 27, 2023. On the same date, Yuzuki N’ began releasing the Escape Arc in the same magazine. Oddly enough, the Isolation arc hasn’t been announced yet even though it takes place between the other two story arcs.
Unfortunately, none of the Mahouka manga story arcs have received an official English translation.
Mahouka light novels compared to the anime
The timeline of the first book series’s overall story is divided into 22 story arcs that are clearly marked by the titles of the books. It’s easy to figure out how the anime adapted the books since each episode’s title is named after an arc.
The anime’s first season adapted the six volumes of the Enrollment, Nine School Competition, and Yokohama Disturbance arcs with 26 episodes. Notably, the first season skipped Volume 5: Summer Vacation Arc.
As might be surmised by the title alone, Volume 5 was focused on the summer vacation between school semesters.
The book showed how the new Student Council formed in preparation for the new year. It also introduced various characters and their magic before they showed up in the Yokohama Disturbance Arc.
The book also covered how a certain character learned one of Tatsuya’s secrets.
Like all anime based on light novels, the script heavily condensed the books by removing scenes, dialogue, and foreshadowing. The focus was put on Tatsuya, whereas the books developed side characters further.
The one major change that was upsetting to light novel readers was how the technical magic systems were simplified.
Rather than being focused on the engineering and physics of magic, the anime’s depiction was flashy and introduced acrobatics, which was technically unnecessary based on how magic worked in this fictional world.
On the positive side, the simplified magic system in the anime made for more interesting animations. Dumping the heavy exposition required for describing magic physics also allowed the plot to be faster-paced.
The anime’s second season adapted the Visitor arc books, which is light novel Volumes 9 through 11.
That means the anime initially skipped Volume 8: Recollection Arc completely. (As previously noted, it’s probably being adapted by the The Irregular at Magic High School: Reminiscence Arc TV special.)
The majority of events take place three years in the past. The story tells how the characters came to be where they are now and explain why the United States Of North America (USNA) is currently interested in Tatsuya’s matter detonation magic.
To a certain extent, both Volume 5 and 8 were skippable since they are focused on characterization rather than integral plot points, but the omission still left light novel fans feeling salty.
The childhood story shows the early development of Miyuki and Tatsuya’s relationship and why they behave as they do. The war story also explained why the Yotsuba is called untouchable and developed the world’s lore further.
Otherwise, the second season followed the Visitor Arc’s major plot beats fairly closely, but due to episodic time constraints, many details were omitted.
Chronologically, the 2017 Mahouka movie actually takes place after the second season in a summertime story gap between light novel volumes 11 and 12.
The movie was an original story that introduced Angelina Kudou Shields as part of the conflict between the USNA and Japan.
Fans who want to read ahead of the anime’s second season can jump straight to Mahouka Volume 12. (Or Mahouka Volume 8 if you want to read the flashback story).
To put the book series’s length into perspective, it would probably take about eight anime seasons to finish adapting the story. The pacing of the overall book series would allow many of the anime seasons to be single cours.
The real question is how the Mahouka Season 3 anime will adapt the next story arcs. Arguably, Volume 12: Double Seven Arc and Volume 13: Steeplechase Arc are not skippable books since the story events culminate in the two-volume Ancient City Insurrection Arc.
But four books is too much content for a single cour and not enough for a double-cour anime season.
Volume 16: Yotsuba Succession Arc would be a great stopping point for the third season since it contains a major revelation about Tatsuya and Miyuki’s origins. The book also moves forward the relationship between the brother and sister that anime fans have either been dreading or shipping.
Volume 16: Yotsuba Succession Arc would be a great stopping point for the third season since it contains a major revelation about Tatsuya and Miyuki’s origins. The book also moves forward the relationship between the brother and sister that anime fans have either been dreading or shipping.
Therefore, The Irregular At Magic High School Season 3 will adapt Volume 12 through 16. Since the amount of content being adapted is slightly shorter than the first season, it’d make sense to have two cours with 24 episodes rather than 26 episodes.
That’d mean The Irregular At Magic High School Season 4 will likely adapt just the Master Clan Conference Arc (Volumes 17 through 19) with a single cour since it’s three books.
But that’s getting ahead of ourselves. I’m sure fans are simply happy that The Irregular At Magic High School Season 3 was announced at the ending of the Reminiscence Arc TV special.
Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei Season 3 anime spoilers (plot summary/synopsis)
In Mahouka Season 3, Shiba Tatsuya and Shiba Miyuki’s second year at First High School begins. Based on Tatsuya’s success, a new Magical Engineering Cour has been created, and he’s the acting vice president of the student council.
Sakurai Minami completes her trials and is assigned to become Miyuki’s guardian by Yotsuba Maya.
Tatsuya and Miyuki’s peaceful school life is disrupted by feuding first years from elite families. The Saegusa twins, Kasumi and Izumi, are in conflict with a new student freshman representative named Takumi Shippou, who holds a grudge for an unknown reason.
Meanwhile, Zhou Gongjin has been working with the media to create anti-magician propaganda. That plan backfires when Tatsuya demonstrates the concepts behind a magician-operated power source called the Stellar Furnace Energy Plant.
This project is of paramount importance to Tatsuya, who believes the new power source could be a means of escape for magicians from their official roles as weapons of those in power.
The Nine Schools Competition comes up again, but this time the events and rules are different. The Kudo clan creates parasite-powered androids that will be obstacles in the Steeplechase event.
To protect Miyuki, Tatsuya decides to neutralize these androids, but Zhou is also interfering by sabotaging the parasite dolls. A battle erupts behind the scenes during the new school competition.
Zhou’s actions cause the Yotsuba to begin a manhunt for Zhou, and Tatsuya is ordered to join. Zhou flees Yokohoma for Kyoto, where an ancient group of original magic users called the traditionalists are centered. It just so happens that this year’s National High School Magic Thesis Competition is also being held in Kyoto.
As if life couldn’t get more complicated, it’s time to decide the Yotsuba Clan’s next head. Miyuki’s emotions are raging over her forbidden feelings because she realizes that if she becomes the next head, she’ll be forced to marry an unknown man… someone else other than Tatsuya.
At the same time, if Miyuki becomes the head, her brother is free, so she’s already planning how she could officially marry out of obligation and even have children yet maintain a scandalous romance on the side. Miyuki’s heart is in tatters since she’s terrified that Tatsuya will reject her in disgust if her real feelings are revealed.
On New Year’s Eve 2096, all these conflicting feelings come to a head when Maya tells Tatsuya, “Miyuki is not your sister.”
Unfortunately, anime fans will have to wait until The Irregular At Magic High School Season 3 release date to watch what happens next. Stay tuned!